The White House sees no sign that ObamaCare is affecting Americans' work hours. But its data have a problem: Government economists count workers limited to 29.5 hours as 30-hour-per-week workers.
That's no small rounding error in this case.
Employers, as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka recently said, are "restructuring their workforce to give workers 29- and-a-half hours " to dodge ObamaCare's health coverage mandate.
Anecdotes abound about employers cutting workers' hours to 29.5 or even 29.75 — just below the 30-hour workweek at which ObamaCare penalties kick in for employers who don't offer health care coverage. ...
The White House used Current Population Survey data to show that ObamaCare is not affecting the number of workers clocking 30- to 34-hour workweeks. The CPS is the monthly household survey used to calculate the unemployment rate.
But the Obama administration left out an important detail: The interviewers for the survey are instructed to round up.
Use whole numbers (Count 30 minutes or more as a whole hour," the interviewers are told.
That means the White House has no clue how many of the 5-million-plus workers who are reported to be clocking 30-hour weeks are actually working 29.5 hours, though there are surely more than there used to be. ...
Read Full Story At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/102813-676836-white-house-workweek-math-masks-obamacare-hours-impact.htm#ixzz2jERqVsOj
